Six brothers from Fuks family. A story from Brzeziny

Looking for uncle Aron’s house Brzeziny is a small place in central Poland. In spite of its microscopic size, for many years it had been the greatest tailoring center in the country. Almost all of the local tailors were of Jewish origin and the... Read more

Jewish Brzeziny during the Second World War

The Nazi German Army entered the town on the first days of war, in September 1939. It had been decided that Brzeziny, together with the western part of Poland, would be incorporated to the Third Reich, whereas the areas east of the town were to... Read more

A list of Holocaust survivors from Brzeziny

There is hard to estimate the precise number of Shoah survivors from Brzeziny. The list below shows ONLY the names of people who survived the war and then moved to former German Lower Silesia that became a part of People’s Republic of Poland... Read more

The discreet charm of Krzepice

Częstochowa, a small city in central Poland, has one of  the longest lists of Jewish Holocaust survivors in Poland. Thanks to the activities of World Society of Czestochowa Jews, the story of its Judaic population is very well documented. But what... Read more

Unknown photos of Jewish life / Myszkow and Zarki

In 1983, my American friend, Harry Birnholz came for a tour to communist Poland. He payed a visit to his father’s family town, Myszkow (yiddish Mishkov ). One of the places he visited was a studio of a local photographer, Mr Bożek, who turned... Read more

Jewish Bedzin – a tragedy in three acts

Paula admiring restoration works at Mizrachi prayer house

Like many other Polish towns Będzin seems to be gazing nostalgically into the past. What used to be an important commercial centre in one of the largest industrial districts of the tsarist Russia is now an exceedingly run-down and unsightly witness... Read more

Looking for Jewish Jedrzejow

Jędrzejów, a town in Kielce region, is usually linked with the Cistercian abbey dating back to the XII century and the Clock Museum boasting one the richest collections in the world. It does not mean though that there was no Jewish population... Read more

Czestochowa off the beaten (pilgrim) track

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Photos from my last visit to Częstochowa. On the hot summer days we were tracing the family places of Jewish families of Epstein and Działoszyński that once lived there. Skyline of Częstochowa – dominated by churches and closed industrial... Read more

Old photos of Mszana Dolna, [Yid.] Amshana

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Small collection of prewar photos of the town and surroundings. Thanks to the courtesy of Muzeum Okręgowe in Limanowa Inn run by the Szmidt family, located on the way to Kasinka Mała. Burnt down at the beginning of WWII. he Bakery of Zins family,... Read more

Pictures of old Wolbrom

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Several photos from my last tour of Wolbrom [Yid. Volbrom]  and Olkusz [Elkish] – two industrial towns located along the important Dąbrowa-Dęblin railway line, before the war known for their  thriving, long-established Jewish communities.... Read more

Jewish cemeteries in Olkusz [yid. Elkish]

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Several photos from my last tour of Wolbrom [Yid. Volbrom]  and Olkusz [Elkish] – two industrial towns located along the important Dąbrowa-Dęblin railway line, before the war known for their  thriving, long-established Jewish communities.... Read more